Vending-machine.



I No. 790,561. f PATENTBD MAY 23, 1905.

L. v. DIERDORFP & F. M. SNIDER.

VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28.1904.

airborne/1 UNITED STATES Patented May as, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

LOYAL V. DIERDORFF, QF IOWA CITY, AND FRANCIS M. SNIDER, OF

KALONA, IOWVA.

VENDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 790,561, dated May 23, 1905.

Application filed June 28,1904. Serial No. 214,549.

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that we,'LoYAL V. DIERDORFF, residing at Iowa City, in the county of Johnson, and FRANCIS M. SNIDER, residing at Kalona, in the county of Washington, State of Iowa, citizens of the United States, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vendto provide simple and efficient delivery mechanism and operating mechanism therefor.

With this and other objects in view the invention consists in the features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which 7 Figure 1 is a front elevation of a vending apparatus embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, partly insection, showing the main door of the upper portion of the casing thrown open. Fig. 3 is an enlargedvertical front-to-rear section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a similar section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the upper sliding gate or cut-off. Fig.

6 is a similar view of the lower sliding gate or cut-off. Fig. 7 is a detail view of the operating device. Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the adjustable guide-pieces. I

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates a suitable casing comprising in the present instance a base-compartment 2 and an upper compartment 3, which may be of any preferred relative size and arrangement to suit varying conditions of service and the sale of difierent kinds of goods. The compartment 2 serves as an inclosure for that part of the apparatus controlling the discharge of the goods and also as a receptacle for the deposited coins, and to enable the latter to be removed when desired is provided with a suitably-locked door 4. The compartment 3 extends vertically from the rear portion of the said compartment 2 and receives the goods holder or magazine 5, and is provided with adoor-front 6, by which access may be obtained thereto for refilling or replenishing said magazine with goods from time to time. This door may be locked an observation slot or panel 7. If desired, the door may further be provided, for ornamentationand utility, with a mirror 8.

The goods-magazine 5 extends vertically within the compartments 2 and 3 and conin any preferred way, and is provided with sists of an oblong rectangular sheet-metal holder open at ,its upper end to allow the goods to be vended to be placed therein, and is formed in its front side with a narrow vertical slot 9 to expose a desired amount of the in the form of an integral structure; but they may be made in any other preferred manner.

The goods A in original or package form are normally supported in a column in the magazine 5 by a sliding upper gate or detent 12, and coacting with this gate 12 to effect the discharge of one package or article of goods at a time and to support the column when the gate 12 is retracted is a sliding gate or detent 13, arranged to operate in a plane below said gate or detent 12. The gate 12 consists of a metallic plate having at its forward end, or edge an eye 14 pivotally connecting it to a rod 15 and bifurcated at its forward end to form a pair of spaced fingers 16, which fit and slide in guide-pieces 17 and openings 18 in the front wall of the magazine 5,while the gate 13 consists of a plate similarly formed with an eye 19 pivotally connecting it at its outer end or edge with a rod 20, said plate being solid or imperforate and arranged to slide in a guide-slot 21, formed in the magazine 5 below and across the path of movement of the column of goods A. The rods and 20 are fixed,respectively,to the opposite ends of a pair of rocker-arms 22,which are fixed intermediately to a rock-shaft 23, journaled in bracket-plates 2 1 and 25, thus forminga rocking frame which when rocked or oscillated will impart reverse sliding or reciprocating movements to the gates 12 and 13.

It will be seen that the lower package or article of the column A rests normally on the gate 12, (see Fig. 3,) thus supporting said column A, and it will be understood that when the shaft 23 is forwardly rocked the arms 22 will slide the gate 12 forwardly and the gate 13 rearwardly, thereby allowing the column A to drop the distance of one article or package and be arrested from further downward movement by the gate 13. A reverse movement of the shaft 23 will now cause the gate 12 to be projected and the gate 13 to be retracted, the gate 12 moving between the bottom package and the package next above, while the gate 13 allows said bottom package to drop down into the chute 10, whence it rolls by gravity to the tray 11.

As shown clearly in Fig. 8, each guide-piece 17 consists of a plate 26, provided at its lower end with a right-angularly-arranged guideway 27, adapted to come opposite the slot 18 in the magazine 5. The plate 26 is formed with an elongated vertical slot 27, receiving a headed screw-threaded stud or bolt 28 on the said magazine 5, thus allowing the guide-piece to be vertically adjusted. A nut 29, applied to the stud or bolt, allows the plate 26 to be clamped firmly in adjusted position. By this means it will be seen that the guide-pieces 17 may be adjusted to bring the plane of movement of the gate 12 closer to or farther from the gate 13, thus adapting the delivery device to be regulated to suit articles or packages varying vertically in size or thickness.

One end of the rock-shaft 23 extends beyond the bracket 25, and fixed to this end of the shaft are pendent arms 30, disposed in parallel planes in spaced relation. These arms 30 normally occupy a position at the lower rear end of a chute 31, which receives the deposited coin B from the coin-inlet or insertion-slot 32. The said inner end of the chute 31 is spaced such a distance from a stop-shoulder 33 on the bracket as to form a pocket or space 34, adapted to receive and retain the coin at the lower end of the chute, but to prevent it from dropping into the coin-compartment below. Loose on the shaft 23 between the arms 30 is a third arm 35, to which is connected an operating-lever 36, projecting through and movable in a slot 35 in the front wall of the compartment 2. The said arm 35 and lever 36 are preferably integral and angularly related to form a bell-crank pivoted at the angle upon the shaft 23, and normally the arm 35 lies sufiiciently in advance of the arms 30 to allow the coin B to enter between them and bridge the space between the arms 30, as shown in Fig. 4-. A spring 37, connected at one end to the casing and at the other end to the lever 36, maintains the arm 35 in the stated position. From this construction it will be seen that normally the shaft 23 cannot be operated by the lever 36, as the arm 35 will simply play between the two arms 30, but that when a coin of the proper size enters the space or pocket 31 the said coin will form a bridging connection against which the arm 35 will abut, thus allowing the movement of the lever to be transmitted to the shaft 23 to operate the two gates 12 and 13. A coin larger than the coin required cannot be entered through thecoininlet, while a] smaller one will drop down through the space 34, so that a coin of the proper denomination only can be used to effect the discharge of an article or package of goods. A cross-bar 37 is connected to the arm 35 by a set-screw 38 and bears against the arms 30 and serves to restore the same, and consequently the rock-shaft and gates, to their normal positions when the lever 36 is retracted by spring 39.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and mode of operation of the invention will be clearly understood, and it will be seen that the desired objects are attained in a simple and effective manner, and that the resulting apparatus is susceptible of use for vending cigars, confectionery, and other goods in original or package form.

Variations from the structure shown may be made within the spiritand scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. In a vending apparatus, the combination of a casing, provided with a goods-111agazine, reversely-movable gates controlling the discharge of goods, means for operating said gates, and means for varying the plane of motion of one gate relatively to the plane of motion of the other gate, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a vending apparatus, the combination of a casing provided with a goods-magazine, reversely-movable gates controlling the discharge of goods therefrom, means for operating the gates, and guides :for one of the gates adjustable for varying the plane of motion of said gate relatively to the plane of motion of the other gate, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a vending apparatus, the combination of a casing provided with a goods-magazine, reversely-sliding gates controlling the discharge of goods therefrom, a rocking element for operating said gates, means for varying the distance between the gates, and means for imparting motion to said rocking element, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

4. In a vending apparatus, the combination of a casing provided with a goods-magazine, reversely-sliding gates controlling the v discharge of goods therefrom, a rocking element for operating said gates, guides adjustable to vary the distance between the gates, and means for imparting motion to said rocking element, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

' A. Z. RAWSON,

M. A. RAwsoN. 

